Cardiac, vitamin drugs see pharma sales rebound with 4.5% growth in Sept

Industry says fresh prescriptions are picking up

The domestic pharma market has come back strong in September by clocking a 4.5 per cent growth riding on sales of cardiac, anti-diabetic and vitamins. 

In August the market had clocked a negative growth of 2.2 per cent, while the July growth was almost flat at 0.2 per cent. In fact, barring June (which saw the market grow by 2.4 per cent), the domestic pharma market has been in negative terrain since the beginning of this fiscal.March had seen a 9 per cent growth thanks to panic-buying of chronic medicines. 

Cardiac and diabetic medicines have been the bellwether for pharma industry in the last few months as patients seldom miss their regular medications. Cardiac therapy grew by 17.1 per cent in September, as compared to a 11.5 per cent growth in August. Anti-diabetic too bettered its growth rate from 1.6 per cent in August to 6.5 per cent in September. 

Vitamins too have shown strong growth too as people try to buy immunity boosting vitamins and minerals like zinc supplements and vitamin C. It clocked a strong 16.3 per cent growth in September. Other therapy areas, however, posted negative growth - respiratory (-10.5 per cent), pain and analgesics (-4.3 per cent).

Sudarshan Jain, secretary general of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) that represents the top drug makers in the country felt that patients have started coming back to clinics, and are re-calibrating their chronic medicine doses. "Clinic footfalls are now almost back at 70 per cent of what they were in January. Patients cannot delay their doctor meets any further, and we expect this trend to continue," he said. 

Jain also added that the first two quarters are in negative growth territory for the fiscal and to end the year on a positive note, the domestic market would need to build on this growth momentum. 

Companies that are selling Covid drugs are doing well - Glenmark and Cipla have clocked robust growth rates in September and also for the quarter. Cipla saw its sales grow by 15.7 per cent in September. Apart from remdesivir, it also sells tocilizumab exclusively in India under a licensing agreement with Roche. Glenmark sells favipiravir, the oral medication for mild to moderate Covid19 patients. In comparison, companies like Sun Pharma, which are strong in chronic segments like cardiac, are posting negative growth rates. 

The industry, however, feels that fresh prescriptions are getting generated as tele-medicine too gains a foothold.